The Shark Titan threw his head back and released a roaring laugh that echoed across the lake. Before him, Gerald the Fish flopped helplessly on the deck. Then, without warning, he cut his laugh short and snapped his head towards a deckhand.
"Take him to the tank in my quarters," he barked.
"Aye captain!" the deckhand shouted, moving in to wrestle the fish into his arms.
"And you," the Shark Titan turned an ominous glare onto Autumn before breaking into a wide grin and clapping her on the shoulder, "you actually did it."
Autumn stumbled from the impact and smiled sheepishly, "it was nothing, really."
"Report to me this evening, you'll tell me all about it. In the meantime, my first mate, Meredith, will show you around."
"Aye Captain," Autumn said with a wide smile.
The Shark Titan walked away, and a stern looking woman with pale blue skin and pointed ears took his place. Her hair was as black as the night sky, and her eyes were a striking silver. She wore a tan ruffled blouse beneath a blue sleeveless coat and tucked into loose, billowing pants. Her expression was hard and her voice commanding.
"You will address me as First Mate Meredith or ma'am, nothing else. Is that understood?"
The adventurers nodded nervously. Her commanding presence and status as the first mate on a ship of champions left little doubt that she was more powerful than all of the party combined.
"Good," she said curtly, "you'll follow me to the galley."
Autumn beamed with excitement as she followed the first mate, spinning on her heels to walk backwards and shake her fists at her party members in glee. As the party followed after them, Iris took in the sights. The main deck of the ship was nothing short of massive, easily wider than the tavern and several times as long. It was built of redwood planks several feet wide, with occasional crystals inset into grooves in the wood. Countless ropes extended up from the sides of the ship to the massive sails and masts that cast shadows across the deck, and when she looked straight up past the many folded canvas sails she could catch glimpses of the pirate flag fluttering in the wind.
They were on the starboard side -- Iris had read up on ship terminology in the library in preparation -- and the first mate was leading them towards the stern, where the deck was a full floor higher. Narrow, curved stairs led up to the raised stern on either side, just beside them towards the middle of the ship were stairs that descended to the lower decks. Between the staircases was what almost looked like the front entrance to a building, with wide windows on either side of a large wooden door with a rounded top. It was this door that the Shark Titan entered shortly after leaving them with the first mate, leading Iris to believe it to be the captain's quarters.
First Mate Meredith led them down one of the descending stairways. The stairs led into a cramped stairwell with a doorway that led to the second deck. It was lit by spreading rays of light that trickled in through the crystals in the main deck, and Iris could see rows of cannons and countless crates of barrels that lined much of this deck. The stairs doubled back on themselves to lead down to the third deck, where the first mate was taking them. The third deck was lit with lanterns which contained glowing yellow stones spaced sparingly along the ceiling, giving the whole room a dim, unpleasant hue. The deck was packed with rows of hammocks, each row two hammocks tall. Two aisles separated the rows on either wall from another pair of rows down the middle. In a few spaces throughout the deck the hammocks were replaced with tables and stools, and she spotted more than few dart boards nailed to the walls. There were no crewmembers on the deck at the time, and Iris assumed they were all either working throughout the ship or were somewhere ashore.
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The first mate pointed down the length of the ship towards the bow, "at the far end is the infirmary, as I understand it one of you is a healer, that's where you'll be put to work. As for the chef," she turned and pointed at a door between the two stairwells that lead off to a walled off section of the deck under the stern, "this is the galley. I suggest you get yourself acquainted, as the Captain expects you to prepare him nightly dinners beginning tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Autumn asked in surprise.
"If you have what it takes to make it aboard this ship, that won't be a problem."
Autumn replaced her shocked expression with a look of determination, "yes ma'am."
"The ship will be departing in roughly two week’s time, after which you'll be expected to provide three meals a day for the entire crew. You have until then to procure the supplies you'll need."
"How does that work?" Autumn asked, "like with the budget and everything? Is there someone I can ask about that kind of stuff? I assume you don't want to be bothered--"
"Enough," the first mate interrupted, "talk to Killup in the galley, he'll take it from here." Without another word, Meredith departed up the stairs.
Autumn watched the first mate go with an annoyed expression.
"Well," Iris said impatiently, "are we checking out this galley or not?"
"Right," Autumn nodded, taking a deep breath before pushing open the door to the galley.
It was lit by a single glow stone lantern hanging from the ceiling over a wooden island counter top. More counters lined the sides and back wall with wooden cabinets hanging over them, save for a cut out in the counters and cabinets for a single door in the back right of the room. The space on the walls between the counters and the cabinets were lined with pans and cooking utensils. The walls on either side of the entrance were lined with racks and shelves full of ingredients and pots too large to hang from the walls. Inset into the counter on one side was a basin, and hanging above it in place of cabinets were two large barrels of presumably water. In the same place on the opposite side of the galley were a pair of large wood stoves, and cut into the central island countertop was a large metal basin with high walls, based on the charcoal at the bottom and the large pot hanging above it, it was clearly designed to hold an open fire while protecting the surrounding wood from the flame.
Autumn placed her hands on her hips as she surveyed the kitchen, "it needs some work, better lighting and some ventilation for sure, but it'll do."
The door in the back opened, and a person scampered out. At least, Iris was pretty sure it was a person. Their skin was a light grey and there was no hair on their head, their ears were longer and pointier than an elf's and they stood about as tall as Autumn -- though it was hard to tell exactly with their hunched posture and legs which weren't fully extended at rest. They hopped onto the central counter top, paying no mind to the hanging pots they bumped into as they did so, and angled their head at the adventurers. Iris noticed for the first time that the creature had wings not unlike a bat, which they untucked slightly to assist with balance as they perched on the counter.
"Hi!" they spoke, "I'm Killup. Like Phillip, but more murderous. Is one of you the new chef?"
"That's me!" Autumn said.
Killup leapt from the counter, not caring that he knocked an empty onto the floor, and scampered over to Autumn. His resting state was a crouch, with his legs bent and at least one hand on the floor in front of him.
"What, uh -- sorry, that's rude," Autumn said, "I've just never seen anyone -- like you, before?"
"No worries!" Killup said, rising to his feet to hold out a hand for her to shake, "I'm a gargoyle. Oh, and assistant chef."
"Nice to meet you, Killup. I'm Autumn Brett, half-halfling, and chef."
"Half-halfing?" he cocked his head curiously.
"Yeah, half human, half halfling."
"Aren't halflings already half human?" he wondered.
"That's a misconception, actually. But in my case, I guess so, yeah."
"Ooooohh," Killup nodded along.
"Wait!" Iris shouted, "you're not human? I thought you were just short!"
Eli, Titus and Victoria all turned to look at her.
"Seriously?" Victoria asked.
"Yeah! Are you telling me you guys knew?"
"We thought you did too," Titus said, "haven't you ever seen how hairy her feet are?"
"Well-- yeah-- I just thought she was hairy, too! Are there any more secrets about you people I should know about?"
"Not that I think I can think of," Titus said after thinking about it for a moment.
"No, that's basically it," Eli agreed.
"Unbelievable," Iris muttered under her breath.
Killup snapped his head between each of the adventurers as they spoke, not really following along with the commotion, "anyway, I'm glad to meet you all. It's been real lonely since Chef died."
"Wait, he died?" Autumn asked in surprise.
"Yeah, real bad accident with a knife, somehow stabbed himself seven times! Chef always was clumsy. Sorry, I should call him Old Chef, I guess. You're Chef now."